It is well known that existing surgical cutting implements provide a significant potential for harm to surgeons and support personnel. That is, with attention directed toward the patient, rapid handling of surgical instruments having exposed sharp edges occasionally leads to cuts and puncture wounds with loss of integrity of surgical gloves, thereby increasing the risk of life-threatening infectious diseases.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,337 for “Retractable-Bladed Surgical Scalpel” which issued to David Platts on Apr. 4, 1995, a spring-actuated retractable-bladed scalpel having interchangeable blades is described. Shipping and use of this instrument has identified three difficulties. First, if the package containing the scalpel is dropped, there is a likelihood that the cutting edge will pierce the sterile package within which it is located. Moreover, only a limited number of scalpel blades can be used with the single-size slide member, and the slide moves with difficulty within the channel in the handle if the size of the scalpel is increased to accommodate additional blade sizes.
The Saf-T-Pass Retractable Scalpel, a recently marketed product from Surgical Specialties Corporation, minimizes the risk of scalpel injury by providing a surgical scalpel having a blade which is deployed when a locking button disposed on the scalpel's slide and moving therewith is pushed forward relative to the scalpel's handle by a user of the scalpel. A final action of rotating the locking button secures the slide which holds the blade in the open position. The blade is retracted when the locking button is rotated in the reverse direction by the user and the slide is permitted to move under the action of a spring thereon, thereby shielding the blade within the handle in which it originally was situated. A movable slide cover prevents the slide from being moved forward until the slide cover is drawn rearward by the user, rendering the deployment of the surgical blade a two-step process.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a retractable-bladed surgical scalpel where accidental piercing of the sterilized packaging is prevented when packaged scalpels are dropped or otherwise roughly handled.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable-bladed surgical scalpel which can accept a plurality of popular scalpel blades.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a retractable-bladed surgical scalpel having smooth motion for deployment and retraction of the cutting blade.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a retractable-bladed surgical scalpel for which the cutting blade may be deployed by a single motion by the user.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.